I Need You: Exposed
by stormy.grace
Summary: Ali discovers a new secret that changes everything.


_ It's been months, and it still feels weird to be home. My mother is dead, and the police don't have any leads. My father refuses to come back to Rosewood, and since I'm eighteen and refuse to leave until I get some answers, I'm basically parentless. Jason's here and we're still getting used to living together again. We've both changed a lot since I left, and I guess we're sort of re-getting to know each other._

_ It's the same with the girls, although that's going much better than with my brother. They don't look at me like I'm going to break anymore, and I'm starting to fit back into the group. Our whole dynamic has changed though, so we're all still getting used to it. Now we're all equals like it always should've been. No more leaders or queen bees. Just five friends that would do anything for each other._

_ The girls graduated last week. I'm so proud of them for being able to make it through high school with all the craziness I've caused in their lives. I got my GED, with some help from Spencer, and they let me walk with everyone else. _

_ Aria's doing better, which makes all of us happy. I don't think she'll ever truly get over loosing Ezra. I know I won't. I didn't love him. Not in that way, and certainly nowhere near as much as Aria did. But I cared about him a lot, and loosing him broke my heart too. Understandably, it took Aria a little longer, but I think she's finally starting to move on. She's been hanging out with Jason a lot lately, and she and Emily have gotten really close. I guess they bonded over loosing their great loves in such a tragic way. It's really nice to see Aria and Emily _really_ smiling again, and Jason seems pretty happy with the attention Aria's giving him. I think it means more to him than it does to her though. But maybe in time she'll see him how I think he sees her. I think they're good for each other._

_ And speaking of Emily…_

_ Well, we had a long talk after I got settled back in and we decided to start over as friends. I apologized for all the terrible things I did, and she forgave me. We hugged, and it's been great ever since. Even with everything that's happened in the last few years, she's still the same Emily. She's grown so much and become such a strong woman, but deep down, she's still the same girl that fell in love with me. And I think I'm falling in love with her._

"Ali!" Jason called from downstairs. "Dinner!"

"Coming!" Ali yelled back and quickly hid her brand new diary under the floorboard under her bed.

As she was leaving her room her phone chirped and she pulled it out of her pocket, pausing to read the text that had just come in. A mild fear gripped her when she saw that it was from an unknown number, but she reminded herself that it probably A.

After Ezra had died, she and the girls had managed to find all of his files and notes and had figured out that Shana was the one behind all of it. They still hadn't figured out why, but they had turned her in to the police and she had killed herself before they could get to her, shooting herself in the head. At first none of them had been willing to believe it was all truly over, but no one had heard anything from A since Shana had died. There had been no threatening notes or texts, and no strange events occurring in town that required huge, dangerous lies. Everything was going back to normal, and they were getting on with their lives.

But her blood ran cold as she read the message. It wasn't signed, but it sounded all too familiar.

_Dear Diary, I'm in love with the girl that no longer loves me._

_Poor Ali. Looks like your favorite little liar is moving on._

There was a picture attached and Ali gasped when she saw it. The quality wasn't very good, but she could easily make out the two familiar brunette heads of the two kissing girls.

"Ali!" Jason called. "We have company!"

"I'm coming!" she replied, stuffing her phone in her pocket and heading downstairs.

She wasn't sure what to make of the picture she had just seen, and she certainly wasn't sure how to react when she saw one of the girls in the picture standing in the foyer, almost flirting with her brother.

"Aria!" She exclaimed, unable to hide the surprise in her voice. "I didn't know you were coming over."

"Sorry." Aria apologized, noting the weird look on Ali's face. "Impulse. I was at Spencer's, and I thought I'd swing by and say hi real quick. Jason invited me to stay for dinner, but I can leave if you want."

Ali shook her head. "No! Of course I don't want you to leave. You're always welcome here. You just surprised me is all."

Aria smiled and followed Jason into the dining room, where the near flirting on her side of the conversation continued. Ali made an effort to include herself in the conversation, managing to act like nothing was wrong, but inside she was completely confused and a little hurt.

Here Aria was, apparently leading her brother on while secretly hooking up with Emily, and Ali was feeling a little betrayed having just admitted to herself that she was developing real, romantic feelings for the girl that had once held those feelings for her. The same girl that was now having an affair with the girl that her brother was so clearly interested in.

Covertly, she pulled out her phone and looked at the picture again. There was no way it had been photoshopped. Why were they keeping it a secret, and since when was Aria into girls? She looked up at Aria, wondering if she should inform her that A was still lurking in bushes and gathering secrets, but the sting of the discovery and the certainty of an extremely awkward situation stopped her.

"Ali?" Aria asked. "Everything okay?"

Ali nodded, hoping her smile was convincing. "Yeah. Everything's fine."


End file.
